The world’s cuisines include a wide array of dishes. Some traditional diets are almost meatless, featuring a lot of beans or legumes for protein, while others rely heavily on animal byproducts.
For example, many traditional Asian foods offer vegetarian or vegan dishes.
However, the foods favored in Europe and the Americas use many animal byproducts, including dairy, eggs, fish, fowl, and other meats.
Vegetarian options in these countries often required a meat, egg or dairy substitute to replace ingredients. Options were very limited for a long time and not very flavorful or texturally appealing.
But that’s changed in the last decade as nut, bean, legume or other plant based products have hit the market to meet much higher demands for vegetarian or vegan options.
In the 1980s, no one was mistaking tofurkey for turkey on holiday tables. But several lines available now are either indistinguishable or in some cases more flavorful than the foods they’re replacing.
A family whose teen is vegetarian turned to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit for feedback.
Beautiful-Leek502 asked:
“AITA for laughing at my parents for an impossible mix up?”
The original poster (OP) explained:
“We were staying with my parents for two weeks and my daughter Lizzie is a vegetarian. We bought some impossible beef and were going to use it for a later date.”
“My whole family gives Lizzie a hard time for being vegetarian, but she has been one for almost ten years from 6-16. I have gotten all kinds of hell around the holidays because of things Lizzie wouldn’t eat because it had chicken broth or bacon fat in it.”
“I went to the freezer one day to thaw Lizzie’s meat for burgers that night. It was gone.”
“My mom refused to get cataract surgery and somehow made the whole family Lizzie’s ‘gross fake meat’ and not one person noticed. It was funny, and I told my daughter and my family and laughed at them.”
“My dad got extremely angry at us because he always talks sh*t about grilling Lizzie’s burgers and calls them gross. There were two meals that week it could have been—a meatloaf or taco meat—and no one noticed.”
“My dad is calling me an a**hole saying how could we be so careless and someone could have gotten sick from eating the fake meat. But it says IMPOSSIBLE in large letters on the packaging, so it was my mom’s mistake.”
“No one at the time said the meal tasted any different, not even my picky a** father, so how judgmental they are of Lizzie. Then dad refused to have the fake meat in the home because of that.”
“Instead Lizzie ate a mushroom burger. I told him I think he’s overreacting to this, but he told me I could stay in a hotel because I played a mean trick on everyone.”
“He was grumpy with both Lizzie and I for the rest of the vacation.”
The OP summed up their situation.
“I know my dad can be sensitive about his meat, so I knew it would upset him.”
Redditors weighed in by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors decided the OP was not the a**hole (NTA).
“NTA. Your family is though, aside from Lizzie. I’m vegetarian, but luckily my family is supportive.”
“Well mostly. Mom and my younger bro are. My older bro is a jerk anyway. My dad is coming for a visit, and I know it will be an issue for him.”
“Regardless, there is nothing wrong with impossible meat. Your dad didn’t need to be grumpy to you and your daughter, like WTF? Sounds like my dad, honestly.”
“Can laugh and make jokes and be hurtful to others, but don’t you dare make a joke when he’s the butt. Ugh.”
“Grown men need to stop being such babies. I hope your vacation with Lizzie wasn’t too terribly ruined.” ~ VehicleCreepy806
“They didn’t even notice, so they’re just pissed about that part. I’m not a vegetarian, and I’ve eaten impossible burgers a couple of times.”
“I can kind of tell the difference, but I can’t with impossible chicken nuggets and I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to with something like tacos.”
“It’s a really good substitute, and they’re just being jerks! NTA.” ~ SimmingPanda
“Impossible or Beyond meat substitutes, when cooked into strongly flavored dishes like taco meat, chili, & spaghetti sauce are almost impossible to tell the difference.” ~ dncrmom
“NTA. I am a carnivore, and I find this hilarious. Because THEY f*cked up, they’re blaming you.”
“Honestly, it serves them right for not paying attention to what was WRITTEN ON THE BOX.” ~ toosheeptheorist
“Sucks that your mom has cataracts and can’t see too well, but how did it slip past everyone else that they weren’t eating real meat? That’s freakin’ hilarious.”
“Of course they’re mad now, but only because they’re being laughed at for something that’s totally comical. This is legendary ‘Do you remember the time when . . . . ?’ material right here.”
“They should be thankful that they got a great story to tell that’s genuinely funny and lighthearted. Instead, they’re choosing to be butthurt. What a loss.”
“NTA, and keep laughing.” ~ baka-tari
“NTA. Sounds like your dad is embarrassed because he doesn’t have a leg to stand on now. I love that you’re so supportive of your daughter’s decision to be a vegetarian.” ~ Illustrious_Tale_789
“NTA. That’s hilarious.”
“I’m very much on the carnivore end of the dietary preference scale, but my niece is vegetarian. When she visits I buy a variety of vegetarian or vegan mains for her, meat for me and the hubby, and I make vegetarian sides for us all to share.”
“Because that’s what you do for people you love. I also researched restaurants so we could go out for meals to places that gave her an actual choice, not just one or two options—Indian restaurants are fantastic for vegetarian or vegan diners, by the way.” ~ Heeler_Haven
“NTA they’re just mad because they are embarrassed that they didn’t know they were eating the food they had so much dislike for, for no good reason. Being proven wrong while not knowing makes an ego hurt. It hopefully should blow over.” ~ Important_Point8222
“I’ll never be a vegetarian, but picking on someone for it is so pathetic. They deserve to suffer for making your daughter feel less than or less welcome.” ~ brsox2445
“NTA and your dad is acting like a baby. He’s pouty that his granddaughter doesn’t have to put up with his bullying anymore because now she can always remind him he couldn’t tell the difference.” ~ faxmachine13
“NTA. Your Father is so painfully insecure that he can’t even process the idea of eating a vegetarian meal. Somebody could have gotten sick? Talk about a drama queen.” ~ less_than_nick
“NTA. Your dad is blaming you for his fragile false sense of manhood being hurt that he couldn’t tell the difference between Impossible beef and real beef.”
“No one is going to get sick from eating FDA-approved impossible beef.” ~ StressedEmu99
“NTA and I say it as a (light) meat-eater. They made a mistake, ate something, and presumably enjoyed it and are only outraged post-factum when they found out it wasn’t their precious real meat. Seems it’s actually tasty.”
“Also: what is your dad talking about? What in those vegetarian burgers could have made anyone sick?” ~ katbelleinthedark
“My husband and I are both vegetarians for years and he once described Impossible as ‘disturbingly meaty’—they really got the texture for processed meat like mince spot on.”
“Your parents are embarrassed because they’re the kind of omnivore that talks about GROSS VEGETARIAN FOOD without ever trying it, and it turns out they don’t find it gross at all.”
“Instead of doing some self-reflection and apologizing for their past behavior, it’s emotionally easier for them to lash out and blame you and your kid.”
“NTA, but they’re not going to change.” ~ pktechboi
“NTA, my cousins and I had a pact for years. A few of us were vegetarians, but after seeing how the oldest cousin got treated, we wouldn’t tell who.”
“We would bring our own vegetarian dishes. Support your family! People should adore what they eat. Also love what you eat. Vegetables are good for everybody.” ~ Hennahands
“NTA. I’m never gonna give up meat, but if this happened around me I’d laugh my @ss off at the angry anti-veg peeps. Besides, it’s kinda cool a meat replacement thing like Impossible burgers are that effective of a substitute.”
“My only beef with it is price. To be honest, for health reasons, if that price wasn’t an issue I’d probably switch entirely away from meat. If I can’t tell, why care?”
“I should also clarify, I’m 100% against it when people demand the right to remove meat as an option entirely for everyone. It is not ok to take away people’s choices.”
“That said, like in this situation, when people use that to justify being nasty to other people, they deserve what they get.” ~ Glittering_Lunch_776
Sounds like grandpa is too embarrassed to admit when he’s wrong.
It’s too bad he’s taking it out on his family members.